


Break In / What a night.

by ProfessionallySarcastic



Category: The Wrath and the Dawn Series - Renée Ahdieh
Genre: Abuse of Authority, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Drunkenness, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Living Together, Minor Character Death, Modern Era, One of My Favorites, Robbery, Sharing a Room, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22075570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessionallySarcastic/pseuds/ProfessionallySarcastic
Summary: Khalid, Shazi, Jalal and Despina are on vacation in he north of the country, and are staying at a resthouse owned by Khalid. As they return from an exhausting party at somehwere around 2 a.m., they discover something disturbing, shocking, amusing, and exciting (respectively).
Relationships: Jalal al-Khoury/Despina al-Sharif, Khalid ibn al Rashid & Despina al-sharif, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran/Khalid Ibn al-Rashid
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Break In / What a night.

**Author's Note:**

> henlo friends, im back with more twatd bs  
> also, this is set in modern day iran. (khurasan was located in iran jbtw)

Shazi was riding shotgun, as Khalid drove to their house - that was a perk of knowing Khalid; he owned random pieces of property around the country, being a Senator's only son, and it also made it more convenient for all of them to live together - a situation that Khalid had initially been vehemently opposed to because "he didn't want to be woken up in the dead of the night by the inappropriate sounds of moaning comjng from Despina and Jalal's room", as he had so eloquently put it. 

Shazi had reassured him that no such sitaution would arise as she had already extracted a promise from Despina to protect Khalid's ears from such atrocities. Khalid still had his doubts, but so far, this had happened only once. Shazi stifled a laugh at the memory, Khalid had woken her up in the night and told her to listen closely. She did, only to hear the much-dreaded moans. Her eyes had widened in horror while a small part of her wanted to laugh, as both of them had slowly and simultaneously raised their heads to look up at the ceiling - Despina's room was directly above theirs and it was obvious enough that Jalal was visiting. Shazi barely had time to react further as Khalid had furiously jumped out of bed and had rushed out of the door, not hesitating to give them both a piece of his mind and she had had to run at the speed of light to stop him. 

How she managed to convince him to spare Despina and Jalal was another story altogether but suffice it to say that the next morning, Khalid had attacked both of them with dirty looks while Despina looked sheepish and Jalal, shameless. After that, no such incident had occured which meant that they were either going to great lengths to be quiet or that Jalal was keeping his hands to himself (which was unlikely, if not impossible).

She looked over at Khalid, who was entirely focused on the road ahead. If it was anyone else, Shazi would have worried about them falling asleep - after all, it was almost 2 a.m. - but not with Khalid, and not just because he was too responsible and perpetually alert, but also because he suffered from insomnia ever since "the incident with his mother". 

That's what everyone called it, and it had taken a long time for Shazi to find out what had really happened. She had known his mother's fate through the television, of course. It was on the news for weeks, how Senator al-Rashid's wife - who was campaigning for the presidential office at that time - had lost her son to kidnappers. No ransom was asked for.

The kidnappers only wanted her to withdraw as a candidate from the elections, possibly because her popularity was soaring, and she was the most likely person to win the elections, making her the country's first female President, a situation which was unacceptable to certain extremist groups. Khalid's mother, Safina al-Rashid, had begrudgingly stepped down, but the search for her son was continued secretly. 

They found him in a warehouse in a remote city. Safina, who had insisted on accompanying the search party had rushed to her 1-year-old son, who was tied to a chair, crying and trying to reach for his mother simultaneously, when a deafening gunshot resounded throughout the warehouse.

The bullet had hit Safina exactly between her eyes, killing her on the spot. 

News channels had reported that the bullet was shot by one of the kidnappers, hiding somewhere in the warehouse. He had immediately been killed by Safina's personal guards. But the truth, the ugly truth, was that this entire incident was orchestrated by Khalid's father, Behram al-Rashid. 

He had suspected Safina of cheating on him. There had been widespread rumours about her extra-marital affair with a bodyguard, and instead of silencing them, Khalid's birth had only added fuel to the fire. People speculated that he was not Behram's child, and the latter had become the butt of many jokes, and the target of political oponents who wanted to exploit this crack in the al-Rashid family's otherwise unbreakable armour. 

And then there was the matter of Behram's corrupt working habits; already, he was under the scrutiny of the Bureau of Of Accountability. He had been accused repeatedly of corruption and abuse of power, and though no evidence had been found, it had still lead to constant and violent quarrels between his wife and himself. Behram had supported Safina's campaign in the hopes that after she assumed office, he would not have to walk on eggshells anymore. 

But Safina refused to spare him, reminding him that her campaign was built upon the idea of honest work, and dedication to the service of their country and people-if she would abuse her power to influence the court's decision on his case, there would definitely be specualtion about her involvement, which would further undermine her position, lower her vote bank and break the public's trust in her - it would be hypocritical and deceptive. 

Khalid was one of the few witnesses to their fights and even he was scared away when their arguments spilled into violence. Shazi shuddered to think of the emotional and mental impact of beholding the sight of such vicious exchanges between one's parents, all at the innocent age of 1. 

These reasons had pushed Behram, who was already infamous for his hot-temper and inability to control it, over the edge. That he was Safina's killer was a disturbingly popular suspicion, but there was close to no evidence. After her death, he had not remarried, instead posing as a mourning widower and focusing on his elder son, Hasan, whom he was sure was his own blood, and neglecting Khalid, whom he did not consider to be his own child.

In both of his parents' absence, Hasan, who was around 6 years older than Khalid, had taken care of the latter, assisted by Major al-Khoury, their uncle. Shazi wondered if Hasan had ever attempted to save his mother from his father during his bouts of anger, whether he had ever been successful or struck down just like his mother? It was obvious to the country that neither of the boys had any love for their father, though it could be said that Hasan, at least, respected him more than Khalid did. 

After Hasan's death during his service in the army, while Khalid was still processing the loss of what he believed to be the only family member worth loving, all the attention had shifted to the latter, the sole heir of the al-Rashid family, though there were still those who believed that Khalid did not have one drop of al-Rashid blood in him. 

A few years later, Khalid's father died. Cancer. But of course, the conspiracy theorists did not leave even this moment to exert their powers, leading to rumours about how the whole "cancer fiasco" was a scam, a plan concocted by Khalid himself, as a form of revenge against his father. 

Since he was the only al-Rashid with any power in his hands, people believed that he had himself deprived his ailing father of medical facilities. No one begrudged Khalid for doing that, even though there was no proof whether he had indeed done it. After all, towards the end of his life, Behram had lost all the charisma of the days of his glamorous rise to power, assisted by his father. He was no longer important and many people were of the opinion that he deserved every wave of pain and agony that hit him, during those last few days.

The prevalent beliefs of Khalid's apathy towards his father, and his involvement in his death were further strengthened and supported by Khalid's absence at, or rather, refusal to attend his father's funeral, despite the fact that he was given a few days off from his service in the military so that he could be there.

Shazi knew all this through the news - she didn't know him back then - but Jalal had once told her that the reason Khalid wasn't at the funeral was because he was watching a documentary on sea turtles; she still didn't know whether that was a joke or not, and she hadn't mustered the courage to ask Khalid. Most of the (negative) things she knew about his life before her were bits of information given by Jalal, an unreliable narrator.

Whenever Khalid talked about his past, he only focused on the positive aspects of it; he told her about how his mother loved the rain, and that it made sense that he had inherited that from her, but "Where Jalal's obsession with rain and storms comes from, no one knows", he mused, with a faint smile. 

"Maybe you're just rubbing off on him," Shazi had teased, ignoring the warm glow spreading over her cheeks, an inevitable consequence of watching Khalid smile. 

It was unstoppable, her reaction to his happiness - he smiled so rarely, that even the smallest quirk of his lips, the most minute smirk, caused her to smile like some goofy, love-sick teenager; it was ridiculous, almost infuriating, how such a small action from him could make her blush so hard that it was visible through her tan skin. Honestly, it was embarassing; Jalal saw it once, and teases her about it to this da-

"We're here." Khalid's low murmur broke her out of her reverie. She looked at the backseat, where Jalal had laid his head on Despina's shoulder, and was just waking up from his little nap as Despina shifted away sleepily. 

Khalid walked up to the door, unlocking it while Shazi and the others lazily stepped out of the car. He looked back to see Jalal being supported by Shazi and Despina - he had obviously had too much to drink; he just didn't know when to stop, thought Khalid with a little roll of his eyes and walked in. He turned on the lights, as Shazi and Despina unceremoniously dropped Jalal onto the couch. Shazi went up to their room, and Khalid was about to follow when he heard her scream.

Jalal was instantly shaken out of his drunken stupor, though not enough to elicit a sober reaction from him. Khalid absently registered a crash as Despina dropped her glass of water, but his focus was on Shazi as he rushed up the stairs, only to see her backing out of the room. 

He was confused to see her throw a hairbrush at whatever was inside the room, he was about to call her name when-

"Oh, shit", she muttered barely dodging a knife as she ran towards him and, consequently, slipped over the folds of her gown. Khalid rushed forward to grab her but instead ended up being crushed under her, a position which he would not begrudge under other circumstances, but now, he quickly looked up to see a middle-aged man, who had obviously broken in somehow, carrying a bag ad running the other way.

Shazi got off him and Khalid quickly surveyed her to ensure that she was unharmed, and then jumped up to sprint after the burglar, his military training kicking in like a primal instinct. The burglar rushed into the room at the end of the hallway, and promptly locked it, which, Khalid thought, was the height of stupidity, because:

(i) he was 6'4, broad-shouldered, had military training and had learned muay thai from a fellow soldier in the army (Artan Temujin, crazy, highly undisciplined but a decent enough person) 

and 

(ii) he had the keys to every room of the house in his pocket. So Khalid couldn't deny that he was having a bit too much fun turning the key in the lock and kicking the door open dramatically. 

Khalid, with his hands in his pocket, luxuriously strolled into the room, towards the burglar cowering in a corner of the room. He was walking slowly on purpose, waiting for the cogs to turn in the robber's brain. The only window in the room was closer to the burglar than it was to him, he could easily break out. Khalid actually expected him to; after all, he had broken into his home, surely, if he could do that, he must have the good sense to at least try to escape? He sighed. Alas, Khalid was disappointed - the burglar was an idiot, after all. 

"Drop your-" Khalid began, but was interrupted as the burglar threw another knife at him, or to be more exact, at the air surrounding him; this guy's aim was so bad, it made Khalid feel second-hand embarassment, but then the burglar threw his bag at him, which Khalid caught and was about to throw away and reach for this stupid, sorry excuse for a robber, when he heard Shazi yell: "Khalid!" 

He turned, and in that moment, the burglar, finally employing the use of his brain, shoved the window open and jumped out. Khalid, who obviously had his priorities straight, dashed out of the room and looked down at the living room to see Jalal waving a lamp in the direction of the coat stand, shouting incoherently, while Despina and Shazi surrounded what looked to be yet another burglar - Burglar2, Khalid named him for his convenience - while he waved a gun in their direction.

Despina seemed to have a purple umbrella in her hands - what was it with these poeple and using everyday/casual objects as weapons? - which she was waving threateningly in Burglar2's face while Shazi had taken hold of a white sheet which she wrapped around Burglar2's head as soon as he turned his back on her.

Before Burglar2 could begin shooting blindly, Despina, obviously panicking, hit him over the head with her umbrella until he passed out.

Khalid was practically flying down the stairs when he heard a loud banging at one of the windows: Burglar1, who was probably calling for his friend so they could escape together - how loyal, Khalid thought - but hadn't realised that his partner-in-crime was unconscious on the floor.

Khalid ran outside to catch him too, followed by Shazi and Despina, who seemed to be enjoying this exciting turn of events, while Jalal, acting like a lifelong drunkard, was still absorbed in a battle of words with the coat stand.

As all three of them baralled into the garden, they spotted Burglar1 running for dear life; with no weapons, and no bag on his back, he was probably regretting breaking into Khalid's home. Khalid and Despina followed him, while Shazi quickly went back in to call the police and to stop Jalal before he hurt himself with the lamp.

On the other hand, Despina, who was visibly having the time of her life, jumped on top of Burglar1, pinning him to the ground. He let out a devastated screech, trying to grab for anything that could help him. Alas, he was helpless. Khalid slowed to a lazy trot, catching his breath, thoroughly impressed by Despina. 

He knew she was Salim el-Sharif's illegitimate daughter. His uncle, Salim, had previously been a senator, but was now behind bars for treason. She had been sent to spy on Khalid, who, Salim was afraid, would try to sabotage his political power, much like his father before him. Khalid, of course, was not interested. He had enough money through his inheritance, and he had started his own business. He wanted to have nothing more to do with politics. 

When Despina had realised this, she had reported back to her father, expecting him to finally claim her as her daughter since she had done all her father asked. But he revealed himself to be the snake Khalid knew he was, refusing to claim Despina, because an illegitimate child could permanently blemish his reputation. He could not afford the damage to his name. 

Despina had had nowhere to go, no one to go to, until Khalid and Jalal had found out that she was forced to live in a slum, with nothing to her name. She had been turned away by Salim, with nothing but the clothes on her back. Khalid and Jalal had taken her in, forgiving her for spying on them since it didn't even amount to anything.

A few months later, Jalal and Despina had gotten engaged. And now they were here. She had worked as an assistant under Khalid - their relationship was purely professional, so it was a bit difficult for him to reconcile Despina, his employee, with Despina, Jalal's fiancee. But here they were, in what was probably one of the most unlikely of situations.

Khalid crouched in front of Burglar1, who had his face pushed into the dirt by Despina, who was grinning up at Khalid. Khalid allowed a little smile to grace his face. 

"I give up! Get off me! Please, I can't breathe, woman!" Burglar1 begged. Despina and Khalid shared a high-five as the sound of police sirens approached.

What a night.

**Author's Note:**

> anyways, pls hit me w some (constructive) criticism, like, dont make me cry but pls help me improve♡  
> and pleaseeee, give me ideas/prompts to write(in any fandom, u wish, cant guarantee that ik abt taht fandom but i wanna write for the ones i am a part of), tysm


End file.
